Robyn Regehr

January 29, 2013

After starting the season 2-0, in large part due to finding themselves the beneficiary of some calls that usually tend to go against them, the Buffalo Sabres find themselves at 2-3 after five games.

I'm digging a season where every game matters, by the way.

By no means are the Sabres in panic mode after dropping three straight. But given this abbreviated campaign, wins and losses at least seem to carry more weight than usual -- even though I keep telling myself it's still all relative.

That said, this type of situation certainly makes me feel like I'm much more justified when overreacting to what's going on on the ice. So maybe you think I'm crazy when I suggest that the Sabres trade Tyler Myers as soon as possible.

There are three main reasons I say this: 1) The Sabres are in need of an elite center, 2) they desperately need more offensensive weapons than merely Thomas Vanek, and 3) Tyler Myers apparently is a 6-8 pussy.

Despite adding some much-needed grit to the lineup with the additions of Steve Ott, John Scott, and Marcus Foligno, I'm still convinced the Sabres are two bold moves away from being taken seriously. Assuming one of these bold moves isn't going to be a change behind the bench, the next best thing is to go after Ryan Getzlaf (which I wrote about last season and would link to right now if I weren't using a work computer with a Windows 1927 browser).

It seemed to be conventional wisdom last year that a trade for Getzlaf started and ended with Tyler Myers. Assuming this were even possible this year, I doubt Darcy Regier would move him (which is another issue unto itself, but I digress), but I think you at least offer him up.

Maybe this is what you should expect from a 22-year-old who throws a $10 million signing bonus in the bank, but if all you're going to get out of a 6-8 defenseman is a guy who can skate the puck out of the zone (when he's not putting the puck right on an opponent's tape), well, we've already got four other ones who can do that.

Put simply, if you're not going to use a 6-8 frame to bruise the opposition, you're not worth very much (and certainly not $5 million a year). Now that Grigorenko is up for the year, I can't off the top of my head think of any center in the league who'd be better than Getzlaf at showing the new kid the ropes on the job. To say nothing about the instant firepower you'd add to both regular shifts and the power play. And Getzlaf's also 6-4.

I'm not arguing the Myers can't or won't improve. After all, you'd have to count on the Ducks valuing him as highly as they value Getzlaf (maybe even a little less given that Getzlaf's in a contract year). This move would be risky because Getzlaf is a free agent at the end of the season, but I'd think Regier would be able to offer him several million good reasons to stick around in Buffalo, especially with Myers's salary off the books.

I was happy to read today that Robyn Regehr and Alex Sulzer are going to be scratched in favor of Mike Weber and T.J. Brennan tonight. It shows that perhaps nothing is set in stone on the back end. But with eight NHL defenseman on the roster, you have to think there are some moves in the works.

Brennan, especially, needs to be playing every night now that he appears to have proven he's ready for a full time gig in the bigs. He can't be sent to Rochester because he'd almost certainly be claimed immediately. And if his AHL fight two weeks ago against Syracuse Crunch winger Richard Panik is any indication (Panik gave rookie Zemgus Girgensons a concussion with a cheap hit), he's already proven he's tougher than Myers too.

The biggest disappointment for me so far this year is the absence of Brayden McNabb, who last year looked like he was poised to give this team a much-needed physical upgrade on defense for years to come. At 6-4 himself and now a 2013 AHL all-star, he belongs with the parent club as well.

The Buffalo Sabres are stacked at D. It's time to utilize Myers's greatest asset -- his trade value -- to simultaneously add some more size and spark down the middle while making room for defensemen who are willing to clear the front of the net and make their opponents pay the price in the corners.

December 31, 2011

I want to first say Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you all have a very fun and safe holiday tonight. The long dick of the law will be out trying to fuck all of us tonight, so keep your legs closed and make sure you have safe means of travel home.

Now that that's out the way, we'll get to the Sabres. Last night on the WGR post-game show, the host started out by saying that we should all feel a little bad for Terry Pegula. He mentioned how big of a fan Pegula is and how much desire he has to make Buffalo an attractive place for hockey. Awesome, we all know that story. (Personally, I refuse to feel bad for someone that is ultimately responsible for the success and failure of a franchise, but anyway.) We know about the renovations, the alumni, and the atmosphere he has tried to create. In just months he has already had the ability to attract big name free agents and get one Robyn Regehr to waive a no trade clause. He's done very well so far, but he isn't even close to being finished. All of that was chapter one.

It's time for him to begin working on chapter two. Hoping that Brian [Cozio, I think?] was just making a statement rather than relaying fact, I don't want an owner that sulks and says "woe is me," I want an owner that demands the kind of respect he deserves. Terry proved in just a half of a year that it is very much a privilege to play hockey in Buffalo, so if your coach struggles to get his [men] out of bed in the morning, he needs to be fired; if players continually refuse to "show up for an entire 60 minutes," they need to be traded or waived; and if your GM doesn't have the ability to do that, then he needs to go too.

Knowing how the entire Sabres hierarchy is set up, those steps I just mentioned obviously wouldn't happen in that order, but that isn't my point.

I elected to not watch the game against the Capitals last night. I didn't even check the score once. I was home, I wasn't doing anything important. I just felt like spending some quality time with the wifey (she hates sports, and that's fine). Right before bed I checked nhl.com just to see the score and highlights. You see, even if the Sabres lose, I'll still go back and watch at least the meat of the game, because if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to honestly assess their performance.

Yesterday was an entirely different story. All I had to see was one play. One play that made me not want to watch that game at all: The Derek Roy giveaway at 16:18 of the second period that lead to the Cap's second goal. Now, it wasn't so much the giveaway itself, it was Roy's lackadaisical effort that followed. He barely backchecked, had a chance to take the body on Ovechkin (and didn't of course), and then skated in circles in his own end while Ovi, Semin and Backstrom worked on putting the puck in the net. The Capitals were even outnumbered as the play developed into the Sabres' end. Didn't matter, scored anyway. That play was the culmination of the entire season for me so far.

When I saw it I was furious. I actually considered immediately cancelling my NHL Gamecenter membership on my computer. I mean, what the hell, I can. I pay it in $20/month installments, why keep watching this shit.

Of course I didn't.

Mr. Pegula has said that he wants to make the fans happy. He has said that he wants to do all he can to make this team a winner. Well, what are you waiting for? You call the shots, sir. You have eyes too. You have to be able to see that injuries aren't the issue here. The majority of this team never shows up for an entire game. Injuries or not, when your healthy players don't put forth an effort, it really doesn't matter anymore.

You know, if this team went out and gave everything they had and went 0-82 by season's end, I could care less at this point. I just want to see a hockey team that tries. The irony of that is, if this team actually did give a shit on a nightly basis (injuries included), they would have a hell of a lot better record than they do right now.

It is the season. It's time to start over again. It's time for resolutions. It's time for Terry and Ted to prove a point to everyone. Start the New Year off with a shake-up. This season is all but lost already, so why not start over now? Why not free up cap space, why not pack this organization with future draft picks? If they can't trade any of these overpriced losers, waive them, who cares?! Finish this season with a bunch of no names from the ECHL. It would probably be more entertaining.

If they unload Stafford, Roy, Miller, Gerbe, Gaustad, Boyes and Kaleta, they will have freed up about $23 million in payroll. Money that can be used to go out and get whatever you want come the off-season. If they can't get rid of Goose, Boyes, and Hecht during the season, their contracts are at least up after this year anyway.

The Sabres could put themselves in the ultimate position to build this team up for next season. They'll have more Rochester guys even more ready by then and the NHL free agent list looks a whole lot better than it did last year.

So if Terry wants his words to carry any sort of validity, he needs to take appropriate action to back them up. Sack up, put your money where your mouth is, and do what you've come here to do. You seem like an awesome guy, turn this shit-for-a-team around so we can all stays friends.

December 19, 2011

Is there anything to say anymore? Every day I read about this team. I read what they say in their post-game interviews and what fans and journalists say in reaction to what was said in those interviews. And now, I'm officially lost. There is not one simple answer to this dilemma.

Fire the coach; fire the GM; trade Miller; trade Roy; trade everyone but Vanek! In a nutshell, that's pretty much what I read every day. I'm not saying that I don't agree with those statements, it's just getting old and it's starting to burn me out. I want a change too, I just don't think we're getting one, or any for that matter.

The echoes of the Florence and the Machine song the Sabres used in their promo video for Pegula Day months ago have long faded away into the darkness. I remember the first time watching it, being on the verge of letting go almost 30 years worth of tears from frustration and anger. Welling up as I experienced my first real feeling of hope in I don't know how long. Now as I look back, I can at least allow myself to laugh at the thought that the simple change of an owner could get the same overpaid Sabres core to work on a nightly basis.

Lindy has made some poor choices in the captain's department [again] this year. I'm still trying to see what Ruff sees in Roy and Stafford. Their post-game interviews are so pathetic, appearing more like they're begging for sympathy rather than doing what they're supposed to be: Setting the example for their teammates. And the image of Gaustad not sticking up for Miller against Boston still resonates in my mind. It still makes me sick.

I don't know how the whole captain thing works, I don't know if players ever get their letters revoked. All I know is that I'm in favor of stripping Roy's and Stafford's and giving them to Regehr and Kassian. I know that Kassian is just a kid, but judging by his play alone, he's more of a leader on the ice than anyone. And Regehr just knows what needs to be done. Imagine how frustrating it must be for him to look in the eyes of most of his teammates. By the way, I still think Vanek should be carrying the "C" too.

I don't see this team going anywhere this year. And judging by the patience of Ted Black, I don't see them going anywhere next year either. I do believe that eventually this team will succeed in the future under this ownership, but the array of issues right now are so spread across the board, it's going to end up taking years if they continue to be this patient. Being more of a pessimist, I sometimes wonder if I'll be around to see it when the day actually comes. Ever heard of a Chicago Cubs fan?

This team needs to be gutted. If you ask me who I'd like to keep around, you'd probably be surprised that my list wouldn't even make it to a sixth finger. I'm not going to get into top ten lists or anything like that, just know that beyond Vanek, Kassian, Regehr, and the bunches of the impressive, inexpensive young talent that has come through recently, I don't think you'd notice much of a difference if most others walked.

It's just going to be a process, and it's hard to swallow another year of apparent failure after being so hyped up before the season even began. I guess I should have known better. I guess we all should have known better. That includes Terry Pegula and Ted Black too. They should've known that this team wouldn't even have been for sale in the first place if Regier and Ruff were adequate men for the job. Championships are a great value booster to a team, and Golisano probably would've been a little more reluctant to sell the team if they were winning back when he was around.

December 13, 2011

Fifteen years ago I would be freaking out about the Sabres recent spate of injuries. But I guess there's just something about pushing 40 that makes you realize there's more important things in life than worrying about the respective fates of charmed 20-somethings.

Or maybe it's just that I can barely bring myself to care much about sports these days after realizing that I'm now too old to play pro hockey even if I were once good enough (which I wasn't).

Whatever the case, there's a certain amount of satisfaction that comes with my newfound sobriety towards the Buffalo Sabres (however depressing its genesis may be). Whereas I was unable to approach my Sabres analysis with little more than unbridled emotion back in the day, I now find myself capable of applying the same type of rationality that I bring to virtually any other situation. (Okay, most of the time.. fuck off.)

Like every other Sabres fan, I've had a long time to assess and digest the abilities of Lindy Ruff and Darcy Regier. A looooong time. These guys are clearly two of the best in their field at what they do. They're both Grade A talents with A-Class character. I don't think that's ever really been in question. One thing that is in question, however, is whether these guys are the right men for the job in Buffalo.

After all these years together, Ruff and Regier might as well literally be joined at the hip. Regier is not going to fire Ruff. If Ruff ever goes, Regier will be going with him. Regier will never fire his best friend. Never. You just don't do that sort of thing, and as a man I can at least respect that.

I'd be willing to bet it's Ruff and Regier's relationship over the past dozen years that's been the primary cause of most of the good that's come to the Sabres organization during that span, nearly all of which probably goes unseen by the fans and in some cases even ownership. Building trust between employer and employee is crucial to performance; treating subordinates as peers often breeds respect. However, too much trust can lead to complacency. And if you're not careful, being too friendly with your players can extinguish respect for authority. You get the idea. Every benefit has a cost.

And so it is with the injury bug.

As I think we've all written a couple times, I don't like the team's reliance on all the injuries as the reason for its poor record the past few weeks. If anything, it's primarily the roster players who have made untimely decisions that have cost the Sabres wins. That said, Ruff has done a good job managing the lineup and lines during a stretch that no coach would ever want to endure. Although hardly tough decisions, he has rewarded Kassian for his outstanding play with increased ice time, and he's also made the right call in keeping Brayden McNabb in Buffalo despite Mike Weber's return to the lineup. Similarly, the fantastic play of guys like Kassian, McNabb, Tropp, and Brennan -- especially given their NHL inexperience -- is a testament to Regier's ability to draft and develop top talent. These two guys will have jobs in the NHL as long as they want them.

Ironically, however, we're nevertheless left to wonder why the Sabres play so inconsistently night in and night out. (This is not unique to the Sabres, but not every coach enjoys a 13-year tenure with one club either.) Why they refuse to finish checks unless they feel like it. Why Thomas Vanek, Cody McCormick, and Pat Kaleta have trouble finding teammates who will actually bust their asses every goddamned shift like they do. Why a system that has lost effectiveness after taking teams by surprise six years ago seemingly hasn't adapted even though the rest of the league has caught on to the secret. Why a power play has, on balance, buh-lown! for years. These are the responsibilities of the coach. Ruff has undeniably done very good things with subpar NHL talent over the years -- if we're to believe Regier's hands were tied under Golisano and Quinn, that is -- so I don't question his ability to coach; I question why he has not gotten better results considering he's had the luxury of knowing his team better than anyone save perhaps for Barry Trotz.

That said, even more interesting amid all these injuries is the Darcy Regier situation. Will GMDR finally move assets before they've overstayed their welcome now that we almost unquestionably know that the kids on the farm can play and perform? The silver lining to the injury bug is that Regier now knows (or should know) he has the luxury of dumping salary to gain cap space while simultaneously improving the team. (I know, right!!) Does anyone even remember Brad Boyes? Zack Kassian not only outperforms him right now, he costs over three million a year less. (Oh, and he kind of resembles that nasty Milan Lucic guy, who I would love to have on my team.) Corey Tropp is going to be awesome, so Regier could likely shop Kaleta right now before his propensity for injuries renders him damaged goods. Finally, even though Jochen Hecht brings intangibles and leadership, you can't tell me Szczechura isn't an even swap offensively if Hecht and his four million could be packaged to land one more big gun up front. By the way, we've still got Marcus Foligno in Rochester.

And I know Buffalo can never seem to have enough defensemen, but right now we have Ehrhoff, Myers, Leopold, Sekera, Gragnani, Regehr, Weber, and McNabb with Brennan, Finley, and Schiestel in the immediate pipeline. Seriously, there is no reason teams even score on us, much less any reason our D can't put the puck in the net every effing game. We have an imbalance of offensive defensemen already with more ready for promotion, so there's at least two that can be moved tomorrow. Myers-McNabb can be Niedermayer-Pronger in a few years, but anyone else is fair game. I think Sekera would look good in Ranger blue.

The tragic irony here is whether you actually want Darcy Regier at the controls when it comes to making decisions that will impact the team for years ahead. Ted Black should have his hands full right now, but if there's one thing that has to change for Regier to keep his job, he has to learn to cut his homegrown players loose. He won't fire Ruff, but if he refuses to acknowledge the opportunities before him and act now, we will have substantive proof that our addiction to untimely injuries is nothing compared to our deep-seated disease that is a complacent GM.

December 01, 2011

If Brayden McNabb keeps laying out players in the middle of the ice, Lindy Ruff's going to have a hard time returning him to Rochester once Tyler Myers and Mike Weber are healthy.

This would be a great place to insert the youtube video of McNabb's clean yet devastating jolt on the Islanders' Frans Nielsen Tuesday night. Too bad no one's put it up yet. So I guess a link to the Sabres' website of video footage from the team's 2-1 loss will have to suffice.

In the wake of an upper-body injury to Jordan Leopold -- which, by the way, further reinforces my claim that only Sabres players can get hurt without anything tangible happening -- that saw Buffalo call up 6-8 defenseman Joe Finley, I'm pretty interested to see what these guys both bring to the table Friday night against Detroit. Finley's quick ascent in the minors seems to support the idea that his early career woes are much more attributable to a rash of untimely injuries than they are to a lack of NHL talent.

At 6-4, McNabb isn't the fleetest afoot and looked at times to be a little slow in keeping up with the NHL pace. But this kid looks like he's the real deal and could quite possibly be the heir apparent to Robyn Regehr.

In the meantime, however, the prospect of having the luxury of injecting some more muscle into the D seems intruguing, especially since the Sabres are still a little disproportionally structured in their ratio of offensive defensemen to stay-at-home bruisers. You really only need two good lock-down defensemen, but right now Buffalo really only has Regehr -- even 6-8 Myers is relied upon much more heavily to skate the puck than to make a good first pass out of the zone.

Being able to move a McNabb or Finley into the lineup in the near term to provide an even more intimidating defensive presence to balance out the offensive attack that guys like Myers, Ehrhoff, Leopold, and Gragnani already provide would bolster the D corps even further while making guys like Sekera and Weber available as attractive trade bait in the quest to acquire some more firepower up front.

November 30, 2011

After listening to the WGR post game show for an hour last night, I surprisingly heard the same thing over and over... the attack on Darcy Regier for signing Robyn Regehr, Cristian Ehrhoff and Ville Leino. What? Are these people high? Do they actually think that the root of all evil comes down to these three off-season acquisitions?

First off, don't even try to argue that you're missing Chris Butler and Paul Byron right now. If you seriously would rather have them still lingering around instead of getting a high-quality blue liner like Regehr, then my only advice to you is that you should probably consider laying off the pipe for a few days. Oh yeah, the Sabres got a 2nd round pick out of the deal too.

Next, you need to realize that Ehrhoff is one of the premiere defensemen in the NHL, but don't think that this guy is just going to come in and set the world ablaze right away. Why? Don't you understand that the numbers he put up over the last two years may have resulted from him being on an elite team like Vancouver? He's used to quarterbacking a system that allowed him to play an extremely free-skating, offensive game, and with a lineup filled with superstar firepower that could make up a goal or two in the outside chance that he cost them one. So until Buffalo adopts a new style of play (and some more talent), don't expect him to be putting up 50 points again anytime soon. By the way, Ehrhoff only eclipsed 40 points once as a six-year member of the San Jose Sharks.

Finally, Ville Leino. I don't have an argument for this one. I really don't know where to start. I remember talking with my brother for at least two months before the start of free agency about how much it would kick ass if Buffalo could just get Leino. Knowing he wasn't the key piece to the puzzle, just figuring he would make a significant impact. After 6 points in 24 games, I'm turning into a doubter. This guy makes $54,878.05 per game. Which means if he keeps up with this current pace, he will make a total of $3.1 million in the games where he's not a factor on the score sheet. Sorry, but all we can do on this one is cross our fingers.

I was shocked to only hear Ruff's name mentioned once or twice throughout the entire broadcast. I don't want to sound like a broken record but it's all I can focus on anymore. He is the problem, plain and simple. The team is still taking shifts (or periods) off, and is still refusing to play up to the physical level that is crucial when it comes to winning more often than not.

And I'm really starting to get sick of the post game interviews. Every game it's the same thing: [pouty face] "I think we got some good opportunities"; "I think we moved the puck pretty well"; "We missed some good opportunities." You know what? I think you should be relieved of your duties.

Unfortunately, the host of this transmission later revealed that he refused to believe Ruff is in any danger of losing his job. Considering he does this for a living and gets paid to follow the Sabres' every move, he probably has a pretty good idea of how things will go down in the end. But on the off-chance he's wrong, I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that Ruff will be laid to rest no later than Monday, December 12th.

November 26, 2011

I'd be tempted to think I'm actually a psychic if the Sabres weren't so easy to read. As I suspected, Buffalo was flat-out absent last night against Columbus. The only problem was, no one bothered to tell the Blue Jackets they were supposed to take the night off too.

The Sabres, coming off an impressive showing against the Bruins two nights prior, apparently figured they'd already put in their work for the week. For all you guys out there wondering why Sabres fans seem to be growing increasingly impatient with a team that can undoubtedly skate with anyone in the league, last night's no-show was as good a reason as any.

I had to watch the game on about an hour delay because Christmas trees apparently can't set themselves up yet -- Hello? 2011! Can somebody figure this out already? -- so a live blog was out of the question. But I did jot down some notes as the game went along. In no particular order:

- Kevin Sylvester is not a good play by play man. I consider myself a fairly nice person, so I won't say anything more. I know he's got some impossible shoes to fill, but still.

- Lindy Ruff seriously does not know when to pull a goalie. He demonstrated this in Philly when he waited one goal too long to pull Miller. ﻿﻿﻿Enroth was the only reason it wasn't 5-0 after the first period, but once Buffalo went down 3-0 last night in the second, that was the right time for a wake-up call. This would have given the Sabres a sporting chance to win a game that was clearly all Columbus up to that point, but it was all over once Enroth let a little squibber go between his legs to make it 4-0.

But that's basically all you could fault Ruff for last night. Even though I often wish you could pull a coach, he can't skate for his team, and it was clear the Sabres figured they could just show up and that would be sufficient to beat the last place team in the league. Even though I literally can't remember the last time they won in Columbus.

- In yesterday's post I naively let my optimistic side show when I commented that we might actually see some jump out of Buffalo because they have quite a few kids up now for the injured regulars. But then during the game I said to myself, "Apparently there's not enough injuries yet."

You're welcome. I take full responsibility for jinxing Robyn Regehr, who left the game at some point during the second period. Just for the record, though, the Buffalo Sabres are honestly the only team in the NHL that can lose players without anything noticeable happening. I was pretty bourboned up by the third period, but I couldn't see anything happen to Regehr that would've caused him to leave the game.

- Yes, the injuries are starting to pile up for Buffalo, but there's not a team in the league that wouldn't make room overnight to add Vanek, Pominville, Leino, Stafford, Ehrhoff, or Leopold. They're all still healthy (yes, I know I just jinxed someone else tonight). Great teams really only need an effective system, two great forwards, two great defensemen, and a great goalie (or a good goalie who's playing great). Everyone else essentially is filler, and as long as everyone plays with tenacity a Cup is within reach. On paper Buffalo was still a better team last night; Columbus won because they wanted it more. Much more, as it turned out.

- Gerbe was invisible.

- I think T.J. Brennan could be fo' real.

- I've essentially given up hope that Leino will ever hit someone. Thankfully all his points earn him a pass.

- No intensity, no desperation, no finishing checks.

- So, Sabre dudes ... after six hours working in the yard yesterday, could you really do no better than to give me a game that was over in the first period? I mean, yeah yeah .. I obviously expected and predicted your fate, but do I have to be right all the friggin' time? All I wanted to do was lie on the couch with my drinks and watch some good hockey, and it turns out your performance was even more painful than my aching ass body.

What's with people's fascination with trees? They're like cats that continually shit all over your carpet.

November 23, 2011

No word from the Sabres or Buffalo News yet, but I've been wondering the past couple days whether Lindarcy would call up some muscle in anticipation of the rematch tonight against the Bruins, especially with Weber and Myers already on the shelf.

Combine this with the fact that Cody McCormick's been out of the lineup and you kinda get the feeling tonight could get ugly (i.e., lots of Sabres bleeding) if anyone decides to take a run at Milan Lucic or Tim Thomas. Lucic would probably wreck McCormick fairly handily (again, Darcy, please trade for this guy), much less anyone else who decided to go toe to toe to ice with him.

The only players who even have a sporting chance of winning a fight tonight are Goose and Regehr, and even then you still have the prospect that Zdeno Chara would decide to get into the fray. Ever youtube any of his fights?

So again, I wonder if we'll see Zack Kassian or Marcus Foligno get a call. Kassian's known as more of a hitter than a fighter, but either of these guys would at least serve a couple purposes, the latter of which sounds bad but is entirely practical: 1) they bring some size and toughness to the lineup, and 2) if they end up with a broken hand you're not losing a guy off the regular roster.

Or maybe they're just banking on Jochen Hecht to fill the void, as he should make his return from a concussion tonight.

Of course, if I had to guess, I'd say we probably won't even see much attempt at retribution at all. And yes, I really hope I'm wrong. Not to the point where the Sabres take cheap shots or cost themselves the game by taking stupid penalties, mind you. But playing a full-on 60 minutes of desperate hockey and finishing checks sure would be nice.